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Rugrats
Rugrats was one of the first Nicktoons ever made, and currently the second longest lasting next to SpongeBob SquarePants. It stars a group of babies with enormous imaginations as they turn everyday experiences into wondrous adventures. It spawned two movies and one spinoff. Characters Babies *Tommy Pickles- the leader of the babies. He is brave and adventurous, wears a blue T-shirt, and has almost no hair and only one tooth. He is always seen barefoot and pigeon toed. He is one year old. *Charles Crandall "Chuckie" Finster- the scaredycat of the group. He wears a teal T-shirt with a picture of the planet Saturn on it, blue pants, and red sneakers. He does occasionally show bravery, however. He has uncontrolable red hair, freckles, and wears glasses. He is two years old. He has chronic nasal congestion. In one episode, it is revealed that he is left-handed. *Phil and Lil DeVille- twins who constantly argue, but are always willing to eat anything, even worms. They wear teal clothing with ducks on them, sneakers, and have no hair except for a small amount on Lil's head, presumably so she can be distinguished from her brother. Lil also wears a hair bow. They are one and a half years old. In All Grown Up, it was revealed that they cannot easily be separated, despite their bickerings. *Angelica Pickles- the bullying three-year-old of the show. She is heavily spoiled. She wears a skirt, pants, and shoes and has pigtails with ribbons. She also cherishes her doll, Cynthia, a parody of Barbie. Although able to speak to the babies, she never considered translating their speech. *Suzie Charmichael- an African-American character the same age as Angelica. She is much nicer than Angelica, and tends to defend the babies against her. She also has the ability to talk to the babies, but never translates. *Dylan Prescott "Dill" Pickles- Tommy's newborn brother who loves to make weird noises. Is easily pleased. Always poops his pants and announces it by saying "Poopy!" Calls Angelica "Yacky". Many people believe that his addition was when the show jumped the shark. *Kimi Finster- Chuckie's Asian-American stepsister after Chaz remarries. Adults *Didi Kropotkin Pickles (née Kerpackter)- Tommy's mother. *Stu Pickles- Tommy's father who is desperately trying to start a toy business *Lou Pickles- Tommy's paternal grandfather. Speaks and looks like a prospector. Uses the number fifteen in his speech often. He is a widower, but remarries late in the series. *Drew Pickles- Tommy's uncle, Angelica's father, and Stu's brother. He and Stu have been fighting eachother since they were kids. He is a business executive. *Charlotte Pickles- Angelica's mother. Also a business executive. Always seen with a small mouth that moves around her face. *Boris & Minka- Tommy's maternal grandparents. They are Yiddish and celebrate Passover and Chanukah *Chaz Finster- Chuckie's dad. He is a widower, but remarries after the second movie. He has athsma problems. He lives alone in a poorly-maintained house, but did win $10 million in one episode, only to lose it all on a bad investment. *Betty DeVille- Phil and Lil's highly energetic and active mother *Howard DeVille- Phil and Lil's pessimistic dad. *The Charmichaels- Suzie's family **Randy Charmichael- Suzie's dad, creator of the Dummi Bears. Prefers not to talk about the show. **Dr. Lucille Charmichael- Suzie's mom. She is a pediatritian, delivered Dill, and removed Suzie's tonsils. *LuLu Pickles- Tommy's stepgrandmother after Lou remarries. *Kimi's Mother- The woman whom Chaz married after Rugrats In Paris. *Mrs. Finster- Chuckie's deceased mother. Shown in one episode in spirit form only. She was revealed to have died of a terminal illness late in the show, her existence having merely been implied several times prior. Other Characters *Reptar- a Godzilla-like dinosaur whom the babies idolize. *Dummi Bears- a show created by Randy Charmichael. A parody of Care Bears, but the name more resembles Gummi Bears. *Thorg- a King Kong like monster only seen in giant mechanical form. Only known phrase is "Thorg hungry! Thorg want eat!" *Mr. Friend- a creepy, clown robot that Stu designed. Tommy & Chuckie eventually destroyed it, only to discover many smaller versions, which they promptly destroyed. The idea was for it to be friendly and give advice on safety and hygiene. Parody *In an episode of Animaniacs, the intro is done in the style of the Rugrats intro. DVDs *A few seasons are available on DVD Specials *Thanksgiving- the babies try to rescue a live turkey that Lou strangely ordered. Spike eventually befriends the turkey. *Christmas- the babies try to prevent Santa from entering the house *Halloween- the babies try to get their own Reptar bars, and end up as ghosts and ghouls in the makeshift haunted house *Chaunnakah- Didi's side of the family celebrates the major Jewish holiday *Passover- Didi's side of the family celebrates the major Jewish holiday *Kwanzaa- Susie's family celebrates their African heritage Films *Two films were created, both introducing new characters. The first introduced Dyl and the second introduced Kimi. The first is when Rugrats fans believe the show jumped the shark. *A special crossover film was created called Rugrats Go Wild, which had the Rugrats meet the Thornberries. Eliza is able to talk to Spike in this film. Video Games The series' popularity has spawned numerous video games. Games have been released onto the PlayStation, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, PlayStation 2, and GameCube. Spinoffs *For the show's tenth anniversary, All Grown Up debuted taking place ten years after Rugrats. *A direct-to-DVD spinoff known as Angelica and Susie's Preschool Daze was created as a continuation of the show Controversy *In one episode, Angelica learns a naughty word. This word is never revealed. *One episode revolved around the classic topic of "Where do babies come from?". *One episode revolved around Tommy wanting to walk around naked. His private parts are never shown, although his bare bottom is clearly shown throughout the episode. Trivia Pop Culture Allusions *Pat Sajack cameoed in the episode "Chuckie is Rich", hosting a Publisher's Clearing House like sweepstakes *In one episode, Stu and Drew attempt to enter a contest very similar to America's Funniest Home Videos. Stu makes a comment that the winner isn't funny, reflecting common criticism of AFV. **In the same episode, Angelica's routine involves inline skating. She claims she wants to do the "triple lutzle". This is a portmanteau of "triple axel" and "triple lutz", both of which are figure skating jumps. *In one episode, Chaz, Stu, Drew, and Howard are watching a football game while the babies fight over a bottle of chocolate milk in coordination with the play-by-play. **The teams in the football game are revealed to be "Dallas" and "Houston". This refers to the Cowboys and Oilers, respectively. **Also, one of the players in the actual game is "Bubba Nagursky", a reference to Pro Football Hall of Famer Bronko Nagursky. However, Nagursky played in the early days of the NFL, several decades before the Cowboys and Oilers even existed. **Also mentioned is the "Statue of Liberty" play, where the halfback takes the ball as the quarterback drops back to pass *In the episode when Tommy is taken to a baseball game, the cotton candy vendor and the commentator are discussing baseball cards. The vendor mentions that he has cards of Darryl Strawberry and Vida Blue while the commentator has a Willie Mays card. *One episode features the "Mega Hyper Heroes", a clear parody of the Fantastic Four. However, the "magic rings" are an allusion to Captain Planet. **Ms. Invisible is a reference to Invisible Woman **Flamo is a reference to the Human Torch **The Bolt is a reference to the Thing **The Changeling, instead of being a reference to Mr. Fantastic, is a reference to Changeling from the X-Men. *In one episode, Didi enters a game show known as Super Stumpers, hosted by Alain Quebec (a parody of Alex Trebek). The questions are done Jeopardy-style, but the contestants aren't required to state their response in the form of a question. Quebec was voiced by Alex Trebek. **Also, Quebec is a province in Canada. Alex Trebek is Canadian. *One episode mentions the "International House of Mud", a reference to the "International House of Pancakes". *In one episode, the adults are playing charades. One of Howard's guesses to Stu's charade is "Steppenwolf", a hard rock band from the sixties. The correct answer is "Dances With Wolves", a movie released in 1990. Howard claimed he never saw the movie, which can be explained by the show's debut in 1991. *In one episode, Lou tells the babies a story about the sasquatch, a mythilogical beast also known as the yeti or bigfoot. Angelica mishears the name and calls it the satchmo. This causes the adults to be confused, as "Satchmo" usually refers to trumpet player Louis Armstrong. *In one episode, Susie is moving into a new home. One of the movers drops a box marked "fragile". He asks what "fra-G-lay" means, an allusion to a scene in A Christmas Story. **Also in the episode, one of the movers wonders how they get the Ms on the M&Ms. *In one episode, Charlotte takes Tommy and Angelica to work. Angelica, walking backwards, accidentally bumps into a car, activating its touch-sensitive car alarm. Charlotte identifies it as a BMW, and orders it towed. **In the same episode, Charlotte's secretary, Jonathan, is acting as a tour guide for some elderly ladies, showing them around the office building. He demonstrates the fax machine, which he says prints "just the fax", attempting to allude to the quote "Just the facts, ma'm" from the sixties police drama Dragnet. Incidentally, that quote was never stated in the show itself. *In one episode, Tommy and Chucky go with Didi while she runs errands. The first stop is the "ATM Machine", which Tommy and Chucky mishear as the M&M Machine. It should also be noted that "ATM Machine" is redundant, as the M stands for machine. *In one episode, one character mentions Raisinettes while at the movie theater. *In one episode, two guys are painting the Pickles' house. One of them suggests to paint the house black and silver, Raiders colors. This refers to the Oakland Raiders (Los Angeles at the time of the show's debut). *In one episode, the babies go to the Moon. One quote by Tommy is "make it so Number One". This is a quote from Star Trek: the Next Generation. *In one episode, Chuckie is describing the horrors of getting a booster shot. In his depiction, the doctor is named Dr. Lecter. This is a reference to horror movie character Hannibal Lecter. *In one episode, Stu takes a break from his doll-making machine to watch The Weather Channel. This indicates that they have only just gotten cable television. Later, Dee Dee is watching a show about the mating cycle of the South American jungle gnat. This is most likely either the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, or the National Geographic Channel (all cable channels). *Randy Carmichael created a show called the Dummi Bears. Although the show is a parody of the Care Bears, the name is more of an allusion to the Gummi Bears, a completely different show. Both shows had debuted on rival network The Disney Channel. *In one episode, the Pickles attend the wedding of Tommy's uncle Ben and aunt Elaine. The story surrounding them is reminiscent of The Graduate. **The babies also encounter wedding ceremonies of different cultures including Judaism and New Age. **In the same episode, Chuckie gets caught up in the Jewish celebration while they dance the hora, a traditional Jewish dance. When Tommy asks what happened, Chuckie responds "The hora! The hora!". This is a pun on "The horror! The horror!", a famous line from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. *In the flashback episode, it is revealed that Stu and Drew's favorite show is "Blocky and Oxwinkle". This is a reference to "Rocky and Bullwinkle", which ran from 1959-1964. **Also referenced is the "Stetsons", a reference to the Jetsons, which ran from 1962-1963. However, Eisenhower was not president upon the Jetsons' debut. **In the episode, Lou Pickles is running a repair shop. A customer comes in asking for repairs on his Edsel. It is a common urban legend that the Edsel division failed because they were all lemons. The real reason was that it was too expensive and too garish looking. **Also in the episode, Stu and Drew fix a TV playing Blocky and Oxwinkle. This TV turns out to be a Philco, a company that made radios, televisions, and other electronics from 1892-1976. *In a Halloween episode, Stu is dressed as Tarzan while Drew is dressed as King Kong. They argue over who is "king of the jungle". Clearly, Tarzan is king of the jungle whike King Kong is a horror movie character. **In another Halloween episode, Stu dresses as Frankenstein's monster. He refers to his headgear as a "Frankenstein flattop". Due to the fact that the monster was never named, it was simply named after the scientist. *Suzie Charmichael's family moved into "The Paytons' place". "Peyton Place" was a 1956 novel by Grace Metalious, adapted into a film in 1957, and later into a soap opera in 1964. *In one episode, the babies are trying to find the source of a loud crash in their garage. It turns out to be a mouse. Tommy greets the mouse by reaching out his finger to touch the mouse's. This resembles a scene from the movie E.T. *In one episode, Spike runs away. One attempted replacement is gerbils. Upon building the habitat, Dee Dee wonders whether they will be able to turn on their Jacuzzi. Jacuzzi is a brand of hot tubs, bathtubs, and other products whose name has become a genericized trademark for hot tubs. *In one episode, all the neighbors are bringing Jello molds to the Pickles' house. Jello is a brand of gelatin dessert whose name has become a genericized trademark for such desserts. *In one episode, Spike is scheduled to be groomed. The babies mishear this as "broomed", and believe it to be a monster. One person arriving that day is a man with a chainsaw, who turns out to be a tree trimmer. His introduction shot, however, is an allusion to the horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. *In one episode, Angellica spends some time in Spike's doghouse. She can be seen watching 1960s sitcom Gilligan's Island on a portable TV. Perhaps not coincidentally, Gilligan's Island was a regular for years on Nickelodeon's lineup for its Nick at Nite classic television block. However, such TVs at the time were usually only capable of acquiring signals from local channels at best. Other *In episode 109, "Ghost Story" , Ickis, Krumm, and Oblina from Real Monsters make a cameo. *One episode features them on a trip to the Grand Canyon, which is interrupted by a pothole dug by a couple of mechanics attempting to lure customers into their scam. The Pickles ultimately go to a roadside seafood restaurant named the Clam Canyon. **On the menu of the gas station restaurant is "jalapeno and mole sauce". Stu mispronounces this as "jal-a-peeno" and "mowl sauce". It should be "jalapeño and molé" sauce (ha-la-pain-yo and mo-lay sauce), as both condiments are of Mexican origin. *A station ID for Nickelodeon features a clip from the unaired pilot, Tommy Pickles and the Great White Thing **This pilot features Tommy wearing an orange shirt instead of his traditional blue. Orange is the official color of Nickelodeon. Also, the music video on the TV screen was replaced with the classic Nickelodeon splat. **Also in this pilot, Tommy has a different voice actor. *One episode is done in the style of a Hollywood western. Tommy also has to face the local bully, known as the Junk Food Kid. **High noon is referred to as "no shadow time" because shadows are not cast during midday. **Grampa Lou mentions that cowboys had to be "tough hombres", which Tommy mishears as "omelets". "Hombre" is the Spanish word for "man". **The fact that the faceoff occurs at noon references the western movie High Noon. **It is revealed that the Junk Food Kid is actually known as Prudence. While this is a strange name for a bully, it is actually of Puritan origin and means "cautiousness". The Puritans are noted for using adjectives such as "prudence" or "constance" as first names. *One episode has the babies visit a multicultural festival. One part of the episode is the debate as to whether boys can wear dresses. **They encoutner a sumo match, which they observe as "grownups wearing diapers" since sumo wrestlers only wear loincloths. **They finally find Scottish boys wearing kilts, which resemble dresses. These boys mistake the duck on Phil and Lil's shirts to be a symbol for the "Clan of the Duck", and have all the Scottish toddlers salute them by lifting their kilts. They eventually treat them to haggis, which Phil and Lil (obviously) find "neat". Haggis, as described by the Scottish babies, is made of "sheep guts". *Lou Pickles is a World War II veteran. He is also old enough to remember the Dust Bowl. *In one episode, the babies become American folk heroes. One is Wild Bill Hiccup, after Wild Bill Hickock. Another is Wyatt Burp, after Wyatt Earp. Angelica becomes notorious outlaw Calamity Jane. *In one episode, Tommy and Chuckie go to a giant toy store. The store, strangely, has a "working time machine for kids". One time period is 1776, which ultimately teleports Thorg to the Revolutionary War during George Washington's famous crossing of the Delaware River. Incidentally, the depiction of the river crossing is based on the painting. This depiction has been argued as inaccurate for several reasons. Among other analyses, Washington's position in the dinghy would likely capsize the boat and the painting is depicted during the day whereas it would have been more strategic to cross at night so as to avoid being spotted. *In one episode, Angelica mistakes a commercial spokesman dressed as a king for an actual king. In the same episode, she overhears her parents saying that "If they're not careful, Angelica will start thinking she is a princess". Angelica misunderstands this and believes that she really is a princess. She later wants to meet this "king" she saw on TV. The phone number for the spokesman's plumbing service is 555-KING (555-5464). However, Angelica doesn't listen and instead dials 555-5555. Somehow, this number also works. *In one episode, Chaz is returning a book to the library. The librarian notices a very small tear one one page of the book. This causes Chaz to lose his library card. This is extremely unfair, as such a small tear would be dismissed as simple wear and tear. *Stu and Drew were one year old under the Eisenhower administration. That means that they were in their thirties at the time of the show's debut. *The name "Weisenheimer" (a mispronunciation of "Eisenhower") was also used in an episode of Doug *In one episode, Dee Dee takes Tommy and Chuckie on her errands. After Tommy messes with the ATM to the point where Dee Dee's card is ruined, they go into the bank to get another one. While Dee Dee is filling out the forms, Tommy and Chuckie try to find the M&Ms from the M&M Machine (ATM Machine). Chuckie tries to understand what a computer is, calling it a TV. By pressing buttons on the computer, he dramatically affects the stock market. This is strange as a computer in a bank would likely have little to do with the stock market and would probably be more designed for bank management. Also, the internet was still in its infancy at the time and one suburban bank would not have such a connection to the stock market at the time. *In one episode, Tommy believes his father to be a robot. He attempts to open his father's chest using a toy wrench. Later that morning, Stu describes this incident as a dream where Tommy tries to open his chest with a plastic screwdriver. Considering that he was likely half asleep at the time, this can be dismissed. *In one episode, the babies find a statue of "Captain Oldey Timer". This is a reference to Dr. Alzheimer, and the stereotype that only the elderly can get Alzheimer's disease. *Hip hop group Kriss Kross sang the Rugrats Rap. *In one episode, the Pickles blow a fuse. When Stu finally solves the problem, he says "And then the Lord said 'Let there be light!'". This is a quote from the Creation narrative from the Book of Genesis of the Christian Bible. *Pickles is an actual last name. It is of English origin and means "someone who lives by a small field or paddock". Category:Nicktoons